THE ISSUE
In the first six months of his term, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro spent more than $92,000 in public funds to update the furnishings at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg, as well as to replace appliances and acquire new kitchen items, according to receipts obtained through a public records request and reported by LNP | LancasterOnline’s Jaxon White. “Spending details provided by Shapiro’s office show that, in total, taxpayers paid more than $1.8 million to keep the mansion running for Shapiro and his family in the first 11 months of 2023, more than Shapiro’s two predecessors spent in their first years in office. ... Manuel Bonder, Shapiro’s spokesperson, said the mansion needed significant upgrades because no one had lived there full-time in nearly a decade.”
No one expects the governor of Pennsylvania to live in a house filled with Ikea furniture that he had to assemble himself.
And we understand that some updates had to be made after the Governor’s Residence went unoccupied during the eight years Democrat Tom Wolf was in office and commuted to Harrisburg from his York County home.
We don’t begrudge anyone new toilets and fresh bedding. But did Pennsylvania taxpayers really need to foot the bill for a $4,600 king-size mattress and a $4,500 “power-reclining” sectional sofa with heat and massage features? We know that watching the Philadelphia Eagles, the governor’s hometown team, has been stress-inducing of late, but somehow we manage to do it without a massaging couch. Perhaps the 75-inch TV and five 65-inch TVs that cost taxpayers a total of about $6,600 weren’t such a good idea. Who needs to watch the Birds’ defense collapse in high definition?
A $170 coffee maker isn’t that surprising, but an $884 immersion blender with attachments? Two under-the-counter refrigerators for $7,007? Also, $5,626 for glass plates? And $2,000 for guest hand towels?
Referring generally to the items detailed in the documents obtained by LNP | LancasterOnline, Shapiro spokesperson Bonder said the “purchases can kind of speak for themselves.”
And they do.
It’s what they’re saying that concerns us.
While no one expects the governor to live in Harrisburg without creature comforts, we agree with Eric Epstein, coordinator at government watchdog group Rock the Capital, who said the mansion upgrades were “a missed opportunity to exercise fiscal restraint.”
As LNP | LancasterOnline’s White reported, “Bonder blamed inflation for the higher total spending for furniture, electronics, bedding and other items for the mansion under Shapiro when compared to past governors.”
That message — it’s inflation’s fault! — clearly wasn’t approved by Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
More than the actual spending, it’s the secrecy surrounding that spending that perturbs us.
As White noted, David Moyer was eager to share the news that his store, Benjamin T. Moyer Furniture in Sunbury, had supplied the Governor’s Residence with maple armchairs and a matching table, an accent table with two wing chairs, a writing desk with an inlay top, as well as six Adirondack chairs. The total price: $16,000.
But Moyer said Shapiro’s office told him to keep quiet about the transactions. He said the governor’s staff told him they would handle any publicity.
So the governor’s staff members must have at least suspected that the purchases might raise eyebrows. That should have offered them a clue about the need for transparency. Hoping no one would make inquiries, as LNP | LancasterOnline ultimately did, was not a wise strategy.
Moyer gave the governor’s staff the benefit of the doubt. “They’re just cautious because, you know, people are backbiting and they’re going to spin things the wrong way,” he said. “They just don’t want to bring bad light on the governor because somebody will spin it that way.”
The best way to avoid casting the governor in a bad light is to bring in sunshine. Detail the purchases before being required by a public records request to do so. Highlight any Pennsylvania businesses involved. If a particularly pricey item is important to the governor and his family, either explain why it’s needed or have the governor cover the costs of it himself. (This wouldn’t be unprecedented. When former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama renovated the White House residence, they declined the $100,000 public stipend and used their own money to redecorate.)
We are left wondering how much attention the governor pays to the purchases made on his behalf.
After LNP | LancasterOnline reported that a $2,450 PlexiDor electric dog door was purchased in June with taxpayer dollars for the Governor’s Residence, Shapiro’s spokesperson said it had been “erroneously purchased” and returned.
Bonder said Shapiro and his wife, Lori, were “not on board” with the fancy dog door because they thought it was “not necessary.”
“They didn’t want it,” Bonder said. “They wanted a basic dog door.”
Good for them, but why are taxpayers paying even $578 for a standard dog door? And $19.98 for a dog pail, as a separate receipt indicated? As devoted pet owners, we are accustomed to covering these kinds of expenses ourselves.
We’d like to see a fuller explanation of what is meant to be paid for with taxpayer dollars. Twenty bucks for a dog pail seems trifling, especially when we’re facing much bigger issues, but Harrisburg math seems to add up quickly.
And that’s the crux of this whole issue. It’s very easy to spend other people’s money — state lawmakers do it all the time, too. The least we taxpayers could get in return would be a detailed, transparent and accessible accounting. Don’t just throw us a bone after the fact.
One more thing: We do believe dogs deserve the best. But so do taxpayers.
